Archive for 'language'
It’s That Time of the Year Again: «Сезон гриппа» [Flu Season] Posted by josefina on Oct 23, 2009
And then it’s that time of the year again – «осень» [fall], which equals «сезон гриппа» [flu season] in all countries located in the more northern part of this our splendid globe. The object of our common affection – «Россия» [Russia], officially known as «Российская федерация» [Russian Federation], or why not call it old-school by…
Russian Word of the Week: «Домашний» [Homey, Domestic; Indoor] Posted by josefina on Oct 17, 2009
Have you ever wondered what the difference between the noun «дом» and the adverb «дома» is? Read and compare the use of the words in the following sentence: «Для большинства людей это просто достаточно старый, деревянный дом» [To most people this is just a rather old, wooden house], «а для некоторых он же – дома»…
Riding «общественный транспорт» [Public Transportation] the Russian Way Posted by josefina on Oct 9, 2009
Sometimes «остановка трамвая» [a tram stop] look like this in even a larger Russian city – this picture was taken on the central «площадь 1905 (тысяча девятьсот пятого) года» [‘The Square of the Year 1905‘] here in «Ёбург» [‘Yekat’, it’s Russian slang for «Екатеринбург» (Yekaterinburg) since that takes far too long time to pronounce on…
Perplexing Prepostions: When to Say «в» and When to Say «на»? Posted by josefina on Oct 2, 2009
Isn’t Russian language a most confusing language? And wouldn’t you agree that the most perplexing part of it all is «предлоги» [pl. prepositions]? If you don’t think so, then take a close look at the picture above (you might have to sneak a peak under the leaves) and read what’s written on the sign: «Приглашаем…
Russian Word of the Week: «Халява» [Freebie] Posted by josefina on Sep 26, 2009
Looking through pictures from a couple of absolutely lovely and lazy summer days spent with my friend Marina’s family «в Кургане» [in Kurgan] in July, I came across this one: «Кафе Старая Прага. 20 июля в 18.00. Вход бесплатно (ХАЛЯВА) :-)» [Café Old Prague. July 20th at 18-00. Entrance free of charge (FREEBIE) :-)]. And…
How to Make Russians Do as You Say, or Mastering «повелительное наклонение» [imperative] Posted by josefina on Sep 22, 2009
This peculiar note I came upon on the wall of the restroom at the university today and couldn’t help but to share it with you, first and foremost because it is packed with information necessary for today’s grammatical note: «повелительное наклонение единственного числа» [imperative in singular]. «Если не сможешь сделать это аккуратно – лучше не…
«Мурка!»: a Russian musical «на мотивы русского шансона» [to the tunes of Russian chanson] Posted by josefina on Sep 20, 2009
Russia doesn’t just have a people with a ‘wide soul’ – «широкая душа» – but also a wide and diverse culture – «русская культура широкая и разная». Today’s post is about a part of Russian culture that is not among the first things you might find out about this country, but a part that is…